Lead Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead Product Designer

Company: Galvany Energy GmbH

Location: Berlin, Germany

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Product Design / UX/UI Operations

Date Posted: 2025-08-15T08:49:43.448

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (6+ years)

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Spearhead the strategic direction and execution of user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design for Galvany's innovative climate-tech platform, encompassing both B2B operating tools and B2C home energy management systems.

• Drive the development and maintenance of a scalable design system, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and adherence to best practices across all digital touchpoints.

• Optimize complex B2B workflows and core customer journeys within the platform, translating user needs and business objectives into intuitive and engaging design solutions.

• Lead user research initiatives, including usability testing and feedback sessions, to gather critical insights and inform data-driven design decisions that enhance product adoption and user satisfaction.

• Collaborate closely with engineering, product management, and other stakeholders to ensure seamless design handoffs, quality assurance, and the implementation of accessibility standards.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Lead Product Designer," the responsibilities heavily lean into UX/UI strategy and operations within a product context, particularly concerning workflow optimization and design system management. The role requires a blend of strategic thinking and hands-on execution, typical of senior design leaders in fast-growing tech companies. The focus on B2B operating platforms and B2C energy management systems suggests a need for understanding complex data visualization and user flows for both technical and non-technical users.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Develop and articulate a comprehensive UX/UI strategy for both the B2B operating platform and the B2C Home Energy Management System (HEMS), aligning with product vision and business goals.

• Establish, govern, and evolve a robust and scalable design system, including a component library, style guides, and design tokens to ensure design consistency and efficiency across all product interfaces.

• Analyze and optimize intricate B2B workflows and core user journeys within the platform, focusing on enhancing usability for stakeholders such as installers, support teams, and internal operations personnel.

• Conduct rigorous user research, employing both qualitative and quantitative methods, to identify user needs, pain points, and opportunities for improvement, translating findings into actionable design recommendations.

• Create detailed user flows, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity visual designs to effectively communicate design concepts and solutions to cross-functional teams.

• Translate high-level business and product objectives into measurable UX goals, prioritizing design efforts based on potential impact, user value, and the reusability of established design patterns.

• Manage the design handoff process to the engineering team, conducting UI reviews and quality assurance to ensure fidelity to the design specifications and adherence to accessibility standards.

• Define and track key UX metrics to measure the effectiveness of design solutions and identify areas for continuous improvement and iteration.

• Collaborate closely with product managers, engineers, and marketing to ensure a cohesive and user-centric product experience.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize a strategic leadership role in design, focusing on the operationalization of design principles through a design system and workflow optimization. The mention of "internal tools for installers, support and operations" highlights a B2B focus that requires understanding operational efficiency and user enablement, rather than just consumer-facing design.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

Experience:

• Minimum of 6 years of progressive experience in UI/UX design or product design, with a proven track record of successfully launching and iterating on digital products.

Required Skills:

• End-to-End Design Expertise: Proven ability to manage the complete design lifecycle from user research and concept development through to final handover and post-launch iteration, with a portfolio to showcase this.

• User Research Proficiency: Strong command of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, including user interviews, surveys, usability testing, and heuristic evaluations, with the ability to translate findings into concrete design decisions.

• Design System Development: Experience in creating, implementing, and maintaining scalable design systems, including component libraries, style guides, and design tokens, ensuring consistency and efficiency.

• UX/UI Craftsmanship: Excellent skills in visual design principles, including layout, typography, color theory, and iconography, with a meticulous eye for detail and a strong understanding of user-centered design principles.

• Prototyping & Wireframing: Proficiency in industry-standard design and prototyping tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, or similar, to create wireframes, user flows, and interactive prototypes.

• Communication & Collaboration: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions clearly and persuasively to diverse stakeholders, including engineering, product, and leadership teams.

• German & English Fluency: Strong professional communication skills in both German and English.

Preferred Skills:

• B2B SaaS/Platform Design: Experience designing for complex B2B SaaS environments, operating platforms, or enterprise-level applications.

• Mobile App Design: Experience specifically with native mobile application design principles and best practices.

• Frontend Technology Awareness: Familiarity with modern frontend development concepts and technologies, such as React, Tailwind CSS, and component-based architectures, to facilitate effective collaboration with engineering.

• IoT/HEMS Experience: Prior experience or a strong understanding of Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) or Internet of Things (IoT) related products.

• Accessibility Standards: Knowledge of and experience implementing accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG) in design.

• Data Visualization: Experience designing effective data visualizations and dashboards for complex information.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for a portfolio with "Kennzahlen zur Wirkung" (metrics on impact) is a critical differentiator for operations-minded designers. The emphasis on B2B SaaS and platform design, coupled with technical familiarity (React, Tailwind), suggests a need for designers who can bridge the gap between user needs and technical implementation in a business-critical context.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• End-to-End Case Studies: Showcase 3-5 comprehensive case studies detailing your design process from initial problem definition and user research through to final design solutions and post-launch analysis.

• Impact Metrics: Clearly present measurable outcomes and key performance indicators (KPIs) demonstrating the impact of your design work, such as improvements in user engagement, task completion rates, conversion rates, or operational efficiency.

• Workflow Optimization Examples: Include specific examples where you analyzed and optimized complex user or business workflows, detailing the challenges, your approach, and the resulting improvements.

• Design System Contributions: Highlight any experience in building or contributing to design systems, including examples of component libraries, style guides, and how they facilitated design consistency and scalability.

• Problem-Solving Approach: Demonstrate your ability to translate complex business requirements and user needs into elegant and effective design solutions, illustrating your problem-solving methodologies.

Process Documentation:

• User Research Synthesis: Provide examples of how you synthesize user research findings into actionable insights and design requirements, possibly through personas, journey maps, or user story mapping.

• Prototyping & Iteration: Illustrate your iterative design process, showing how prototypes were used for testing and feedback, and how this feedback informed design revisions.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Detail how you collaborate with engineers, product managers, and other stakeholders throughout the design process, including handoff procedures and QA processes.

• Accessibility Integration: Showcase how accessibility considerations were integrated into your design process and final deliverables.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "Kennzahlen zur Wirkung" (metrics on impact) and "Workflow-Optimierung" (workflow optimization) directly aligns with operational excellence and the need for designers to demonstrate tangible business value, not just aesthetic appeal. A strong portfolio in this context will highlight efficiency gains and measurable improvements driven by design.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

• Estimated Range: €70,000 - €95,000 per annum.

• Methodology: This estimate is based on industry benchmarks for Lead Product Designer roles in Berlin, Germany, considering the experience level (6+ years), the company's growth stage (Climate-Tech, Hypergrowth), and the responsibilities outlined. Factors such as company profitability, investor backing, and the strategic importance of the role influence the upper end of the range. The specific compensation will depend on the candidate's qualifications, experience, and negotiation.

Benefits:

• Attractive Compensation Package: Competitive salary and potential for performance-based bonuses or equity, reflecting the strategic importance of the role.

• Continuous Learning & Development: Access to training opportunities, workshops, conferences, and professional development programs to enhance skills and career growth.

• Career Progression: Clear development perspectives and opportunities to grow within a rapidly expanding company, potentially into senior leadership or specialized design roles.

• Hybrid Working Model: Flexibility to work partly from home after the initial onboarding period, promoting a better work-life balance.

• Prime Office Location: A well-situated office in Berlin's City West, directly at Savignyplatz, offering excellent accessibility and a vibrant work environment.

• Daily Subsidized Lunch: Fresh, healthy, and subsidized lunch options available daily, with vegetarian choices, contributing to employee well-being.

• Open & Dynamic Culture: Experience flat hierarchies, short decision-making paths, and a collaborative, dynamic team environment fostering innovation and impact.

• Impactful Work: Opportunity to contribute significantly to the energy transition and climate protection efforts through innovative technology.

📝 Enhancement Note: The inclusion of "Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten und Entwicklungsperspektiven" (training opportunities and development perspectives) and the emphasis on "Starkes Wachstum & hoher Impact" (strong growth & high impact) are key attractors for ambitious operations and design professionals. The hybrid work arrangement and subsidized lunch are standard but valuable benefits in the Berlin tech scene.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Climate-Tech / Energy Technology / SaaS

Company Size: Likely between 50-250 employees, given its "profitably, fast-growing" status and Series A/B funding typical for this stage. This size offers a balance between structure and agility, allowing for significant individual impact.

Founded: Not specified, but its rapid growth suggests a company founded within the last 5-10 years, likely capitalizing on current market trends in sustainability and energy efficiency.

Team Structure:

• The Product Design team likely operates within a Product department, collaborating closely with Product Management, Engineering (Frontend/Backend), and potentially Marketing and Sales.

• As a Lead, this role will likely report to a Head of Product, Director of Product, or potentially a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) depending on the organizational structure.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Galvany emphasizes leveraging data, including user research insights and product analytics, to inform design and product strategy.

• Agile Development Practices: Expect a fast-paced, iterative approach to product development, common in the tech industry, likely incorporating Agile or Scrum methodologies.

• User-Centric Design Process: The company prioritizes understanding and meeting user needs through research, testing, and continuous feedback loops.

• Focus on Efficiency & Scalability: Given the B2B platform and operational focus, design solutions are expected to be efficient, scalable, and robust.

Company Website: https://galvany.de

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's focus on Climate-Tech and its "hypergrowth" phase indicate a dynamic environment where operational efficiency and user adoption are critical for scaling. The design role is positioned to directly influence business outcomes by optimizing user experiences for both B2B and B2C segments.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a "Lead" position, signifying a senior individual contributor role with leadership responsibilities in design strategy and execution. It's a crucial position for shaping the product's user experience and establishing design best practices.

Reporting Structure: Typically, a Lead Product Designer might report to a Head of Product, Director of Product, or a VP of Product. They would likely lead a small team of designers or work closely with product managers and engineers, influencing product direction.

Operations Impact: The Lead Product Designer's work directly impacts operational efficiency by simplifying complex workflows for internal users (installers, support, operations) and enhances customer satisfaction and adoption of the energy management platform. This role is pivotal in ensuring the usability and effectiveness of Galvany's core technology offerings, which are central to its business model and mission.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Expansion: Potential to grow into a Head of Product Design or Design Manager role as the company scales, managing and mentoring a growing design team.

• Strategic Product Influence: Deeper involvement in product strategy, roadmap planning, and cross-functional leadership, contributing to the overall business direction.

• Domain Expertise: Deepen expertise in Climate-Tech, energy management systems, and B2B platform design, becoming a subject matter expert.

• Skill Specialization: Opportunity to specialize in areas like design systems, UX research leadership, or interaction design for complex systems.

• Impact on Mission: Directly contribute to Galvany's mission of accelerating the energy transition, offering a sense of purpose beyond typical design roles.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Lead" title implies not just design execution but also strategic input and potentially mentorship, offering a clear growth path within a scaling tech company. The emphasis on both B2B operations tools and B2C platforms provides diverse learning opportunities.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Galvany offers a hybrid work model, meaning there will be a physical office presence combined with remote work flexibility. The office is described as being in a prime location in Berlin's City West.

Office Location(s): The primary office is located in Berlin, Germany, specifically "directly am Savignyplatz" (directly at Savignyplatz), a well-connected and desirable area in Berlin.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Hub: The office serves as a central point for team collaboration, brainstorming sessions, workshops, and key meetings, fostering a strong sense of team cohesion.

• Tech-Enabled Environment: Expect access to modern design tools and collaboration software necessary for efficient product development and communication.

• Team Interaction: While hybrid, the office environment is designed to facilitate interaction with colleagues from product, engineering, and other departments, encouraging knowledge sharing and cross-functional synergy.

• Professional Setting: The office in City West suggests a professional and well-equipped workspace conducive to focused work and client interactions if necessary.

Work Schedule: While specific hours aren't detailed, a full-time role in Germany typically involves around 38-40 hours per week. The hybrid model suggests flexibility in how these hours are structured, with core collaboration times likely expected when in the office.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model is a key factor for many professionals. The "office in bester Lage" (office in prime location) and the description of a dynamic, collaborative environment suggest a modern, appealing workplace culture that balances flexibility with team interaction.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A brief call with HR or a recruiter to assess basic qualifications, cultural fit, and salary expectations.

• Portfolio Review & Design Challenge: A session where you present your portfolio, highlighting relevant end-to-end case studies, and potentially tackle a design problem or case study related to Galvany's products. This stage assesses your strategic thinking, problem-solving skills, and design craft.

• Stakeholder Interviews: Meetings with key team members, including Product Managers, Engineering Leads, and potentially other designers or executives, to evaluate your collaboration style, technical understanding, and strategic alignment.

• Final Interview: Likely with a senior leader (e.g., Head of Product, CTO) to discuss your vision for the role, company culture fit, and long-term career aspirations.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-5 projects that best demonstrate your ability to handle complex B2B/B2C products, workflow optimization, and design system thinking. Prioritize those with measurable impact.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the process you followed (research, ideation, iteration), the solutions you designed, and the impact achieved (quantified with metrics).

• Highlight Operations Impact: Explicitly call out how your designs improved operational efficiency, user adoption, or streamlined complex processes for users.

• Showcase Design System Skills: If possible, include examples of your work on design systems, component libraries, or style guides.

• Be Prepared for Questions: Anticipate questions about your design decisions, trade-offs, collaboration process, and how you handle feedback.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Context: Research Galvany's mission, products (operating platform, HEMS), target users (installers, homeowners), and the climate-tech industry.

• Focus on Process: If a challenge is given, emphasize your thought process, research approach, and how you'd arrive at a solution, rather than just the final output.

• Demonstrate Strategic Thinking: Show how you'd align design solutions with business goals and user needs.

• Practice Communication: Be ready to articulate your ideas clearly and concisely, as if presenting to stakeholders.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "messbare Erfolge" (measurable successes) and "Workflow-Optimierung" (workflow optimization) in the qualifications and company description means your portfolio should explicitly address these operational aspects. Demonstrating how your design work drives efficiency and business results will be key.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (strongly implied by "Figma" in skills), potentially Sketch, Adobe XD.

• Design Systems: Familiarity with component-based design, design tokens, and style guides is crucial. Tools like Storybook are often used in conjunction with frontend frameworks.

• User Research: Tools for surveys (e.g., SurveyMonkey, Typeform), usability testing platforms (e.g., UserTesting.com, Maze), and potentially session recording tools (e.g., Hotjar, FullStory).

• Collaboration: Tools like Jira, Confluence for workflow management and documentation.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics: Understanding of tools like Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude for tracking user behavior and product performance.

• Data Visualization: Familiarity with creating dashboards or working with data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Looker) might be beneficial for understanding user data.

CRM & Automation:

Frontend Technologies (Awareness Required):

• React: Strong familiarity with React is preferred, indicating that designs should be component-based and compatible with this framework.

• Tailwind CSS: Experience or understanding of utility-first CSS frameworks like Tailwind is valuable for design handoff and consistency.

• Storybook: Often used for developing and showcasing UI component libraries, aligning with the design system requirement.

• IoT/HEMS Integration: Knowledge of how designs might integrate with hardware or energy management systems.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of Figma, React, and Tailwind CSS indicates a modern tech stack. Proficiency in these tools, particularly Figma for design and an understanding of how designs translate to React/Tailwind, will be highly valued. The mention of Storybook suggests a mature approach to design systems.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Impact-Driven: A strong focus on creating tangible results and contributing directly to the company's mission of accelerating the energy transition.

• User-Centricity: A commitment to understanding and serving user needs through rigorous research and thoughtful design.

• Collaboration & Transparency: Open communication, knowledge sharing, and a willingness to work closely with cross-functional teams to achieve shared goals.

• Efficiency & Scalability: A drive to create robust, efficient, and scalable solutions that can grow with the company.

• Innovation & Continuous Improvement: A culture that embraces new ideas, encourages experimentation, and strives for ongoing enhancement of products and processes.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Designers are expected to work seamlessly with product managers to define requirements and engineers to ensure successful implementation, acting as a bridge between user needs and technical capabilities.

• Feedback-Oriented: A culture that values constructive feedback, both giving and receiving, to refine designs and improve team processes.

• Proactive Communication: Encouragement of proactive communication to address potential issues early and maintain alignment across teams.

• Shared Ownership: Fostering a sense of shared ownership for the product's success, where design is seen as a critical component of business outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's mission-driven nature ("Energiewende radikal zu beschleunigen") is a core cultural element. Professionals who thrive in environments focused on impact, efficiency, and collaborative problem-solving will find this culture appealing.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing B2B & B2C Needs: Designing for two distinct user bases (internal operations/installers vs. homeowners) with potentially different needs and technical proficiencies.

• Complex Workflow Design: Optimizing intricate operational workflows within the B2B platform requires deep understanding and careful consideration of user tasks and business logic.

• Scalability of Design System: Ensuring the design system remains robust, maintainable, and adaptable as the product suite and company grow rapidly.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Maintaining consistent design vision and implementation across multiple product areas and engineering teams.

• Rapid Iteration: Thriving in a fast-paced, "hypergrowth" environment where quick iterations and adaptability are key.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Dive into Climate-Tech: Gain significant expertise in the rapidly evolving energy sector and its technological underpinnings.

• Advanced Design System Practice: Contribute to and refine sophisticated design systems in a real-world, scaling environment.

• Product Strategy Involvement: Opportunity to influence product direction and strategy, moving beyond pure execution.

• Leadership Experience: Develop leadership skills by guiding design efforts, mentoring junior designers (if applicable), and collaborating with senior stakeholders.

• Understanding of IoT & Energy Management: Acquire practical knowledge in designing for smart home devices and energy management systems.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are typical of a fast-growing tech company with complex products. Successfully navigating these challenges presents significant opportunities for professional growth and skill development, particularly in areas related to operational design and system thinking.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How would you approach designing a new dashboard for our internal operations team to manage energy system installations, considering their need for efficiency and data accuracy?" (Focus on process, user research, and metrics.)

• "Describe your experience building or evolving a design system. What were the key challenges, and how did you ensure its adoption and effectiveness?" (Highlight scalability, components, and collaboration.)

• "Walk us through a complex B2B workflow you've optimized. What was the problem, your approach, and the measurable outcome?" (Showcase analytical skills and impact.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you about Galvany's mission to accelerate the energy transition?" (Showcase alignment with company values.)

• "How do you envision the role of design in a 'hypergrowth' Climate-Tech company like ours?" (Demonstrate strategic thinking and adaptability.)

• "Describe your ideal collaboration with product managers and engineers. How do you ensure alignment and effective handoffs?" (Assess teamwork and communication.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure for Impact: Begin with a brief overview of Galvany and the role, then dive into 2-3 key case studies. For each, clearly state the problem, your specific contributions, the process, key design decisions, and quantifiable results.

• Emphasize Metrics: Ensure you can articulate the "Kennzahlen zur Wirkung" (metrics on impact) for your projects. How did your designs improve conversion, efficiency, engagement, or reduce errors?

• Showcase Problem-Solving: Be ready to discuss trade-offs, challenges faced, and how you iterated based on feedback or data.

• Highlight Design System Thinking: If applicable, show how your work contributes to or utilizes design systems for consistency and efficiency.

• Engage Your Audience: Make it a conversation, not a monologue. Be prepared to answer questions throughout the presentation.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparing specific examples that demonstrate your understanding of operational efficiency, workflow optimization, and measurable impact will be crucial. Tailor your portfolio presentation to highlight these aspects, as they are explicitly called out in the job description and company context.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this operations-focused design position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on join.com.

• Portfolio Customization: Ensure your portfolio prominently features end-to-end case studies, emphasizing workflow optimization, measurable outcomes ("Kennzahlen zur Wirkung"), and any experience with B2B platforms or design systems.

• Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to highlight your 6+ years of experience in UI/UX and product design, focusing on achievements related to complex digital products, user research, and quantifiable impact. Use keywords from the job description such as "UX/UI Strategy," "Design Systems," "Workflow Optimization," and "B2B SaaS."

• Interview Preparation: Practice presenting your portfolio, focusing on your problem-solving process and the business impact of your designs. Prepare to discuss your approach to hybrid work environments and your understanding of the climate-tech sector.

• Company Research: Familiarize yourself with Galvany's mission, products, and values. Understand their focus on accelerating the energy transition and their business model, particularly the interplay between their B2B operating platform and B2C energy management solutions.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.